Serum iron and unsaturated iron-binding capacity in the -thalassaemia trait: their relation to the levels of haemoglobins A, A 2 , and F.

Heterozygous f-thalassaemia cannot be dif- ferentiated from iron-deficiency anaemia, except by extensive haematological tests. Textbooks of hae- matology (Harris, 1963; Lehmann and Huntsman, 1966; Wintrobe, 1967) and detailed reviews (WHO, 1967) point out that serum iron is a useful index in differentiating between the two conditions since it is high or normal in the thalassaemia trait and marked- ly low in iron-deficiency anaemia. Of course this does not apply to individuals in whom both con- ditions coexist. The frequency of coexisting iron deficiency and the thalassaemia trait is expected to be similar to that of iron deficiency in the general population; this is supported by recent reports indicating that iron metabolism is not disturbed in the thalassaemia trait (Crosby and Conrad, 1964).